Leon Morin, Priest (1961)

 Jean-Pierre Melville's "Leon Morin, Priest"


Jean-Pierre Melville's 1950s period really felt like a huge letdown after I completely fell in love with "Le Silence de la Mer" in 1949. However, my faith in this director was restored after watching his 1961 adaptation of the 1952 Beatrix Beck novel "Leon Morin, Priest." The emotional and spiritual struggle at the heart of the film really had an affect on me. Although it didn't surpass "Le Silence de la Mer," "Leon Morin, Priest" certainly tugged at my desires.

The film centers on Barny, a widowed single mother during the Nazi occupation of France. A faithless atheist, Barny begins the film confronting one of the members of the church about the church's decadence, its corruption, and it being an 'opioid of the masses." The church member, a young priest named Leon, shocks her when he opts not to be offended by her criticisms and instead engages in good-faith theological debate. Barny spends the film re-engaging with these discussions with Leon, hoping to resolve her spiritual perspectives. What happens instead is Barny falls deeper into Leon's faith, along with falling in love with him in the process.

Given the cheekiness of Melville, I was expecting his film centering on faith and religion to be somewhat sarcastic or farcical. What I was struck by instead was how sincere the religiosity was and how moral certainty pervaded the themes. What happened to me during this viewing was moral and religious provocations that drove me to internal searches for moral clarity and selfless living. I was completely blown away by my moral conclusions of a shockingly sincere thematic discussions.

What really engaged this good-faith internal search was the film's titular character. Like our protagonist, I spend the entire film being utterly charmed by the priest and went through the same emotional conundrums as Barny, even falling in love with the priest. However, the priest's moral conviction and persistence in ethical means of spreading Godly values forces those romantic emotions to be evaluated as something far more spiritual. Maybe I'm not in love with the priest, but his values, convictions, and faith. 

If a film like "Leon Morin, Priest" can force spiritual evaluation in such an entertaining and engaging manner, then I certainly can get on board with that. Melville, to me, has been completely redeemed by this spiritual experience. 



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